Whither The Penguins?

Well, At Least For Now ...... they're not going anywhere.State and local officials met with Pens' owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux for more
than four hours in Philadelphia (of all places) last night, and the session, described by those involved as "very constructive," produced an agreement to ... meet again next Wednesday."We had a very constructive meeting where significant progress was
made. The parties have agreed to meet again next Wednesday," Rendell administration spokesman Chuck Ardo said last night. There was no elaboration. And none of the principles were available for interviews.Participants in the session, the first face-to-face gathering since Jan. 18, were Burkle and Lemieux, Gov. Ed Rendell, Pittsburgh Boy Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also traveled from New York to participate in the negotiating session, the Post-Gazette reported this morning. Reporters gathered at City Hall to await the outcome.Ravenstahl, meanwhile, will also appear on CBS-TV's "Sunday Morning" program this weekend.There, he'll be shown welcoming new Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin to the Steel City. As far as we know, the Steelers have no plans to move anyplace. And we're not sure anyone would want the Pirates even if they were threatening to leave.The rest of today's news starts after the jump.

You Paid For It.Lawmakers in the state House spent about $5 million last session appearing in public
service TV commercials that critics have long denounced as thinly disguised campaign commercials, the Tribune-Review reports this morning.As is their custom, Republicans busted the bank on the ads, blowing $4.4 million and outspending Democrats by a more than 6-1 margin, the Trib found. The Dems spent about $671,000 during that period.Figures for Senate Democrats weren't available, but the Senate GOP spent only $10,100 worth of the ads over the last two years, said Todd Nyquist, the chief-of-staff to Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.Some members of the House Reform Commission spent much of the panel's final days trying to drive a stake through the ads, but to no avail. The sentiment that they serve as a valuable communication tool for people too busy to read the newspaper won out.So, we're stuck with 'em.

You Paid For It, Redux.Two freshman state lawmakers who were busted yesterday for billing the taxpayers for their
welcome receptions in January have paid back the money.Reps. Chelsa Wagner and Matt Smith, both Democrats of Allegheny County, paid back $1,286 and $914 respectively for the catered receptions during Swearing-In Day festivities on Jan. 2, the Tribune-Review reports this morning.The Trib revealed yesterday that the two lawmakers, who ran on a promise of reforming Harrisburg, weren't above making the taxpayers foot the bill for a free lunch for supporters.

Primary Tasks.Eyeing an opportunity for the state to play a greater role in picking
the presidential
nominees, lawmakers are considering
moving the late April 2008 primary to as early as Feb. 5, this very newspaper reports this morning.
But the proposal, subject to a hearing next week, faces a host of obstacles.Perhaps the most daunting is a two-year-old law that forces many school
districts to put their budgets before primary election voters. Another
is the prospect of forcing local candidates to start soliciting support
for 2008 just days after the November 2007 election.
And while legislators have raised the idea of a split primary – one for
the presidential race and another for local elections – even that idea
poses a problem: Holding two primaries means millions more in costs.
''There's quite a bit of support for [moving the primary forward],''
said Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton. ''It is the mechanics that are
proving to be the biggest stumbling block.''This being Pennsylvania, of course, nothing is ever easy.

Well, That's Gonna Leave A Mark Dept.Our thanks, this morning, go out to state Rep. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh, who provided us
with as entertaining a budget hearing as we've been to in a while. Channeling a mix of an exceptionally testy Walter Matthau and Columbo-era Peter Falk, the suburban Allentown legislator spent a good half-hour or so yesterday batting Rendell administration Budget Secretary Mike Masch around like a pinata. Most of it had to do with the administration's contentions that the feds are cutting off money to the state when they really aren't, except when they are, but then there's a whole mix of variables, and other stuff like intergovernmental transfers and draw-downs and fixed costs ... and ... oh ... the heck with it. You get the idea.During an appearance before the House Appropriations Committee yesterday, Masch went from merely dense to utterly impenetrable within about 15 seconds, driving Reichley absolutely batty."I appreciate the complexity of the answer," Reichley barked at one point, causing us to nearly choke on our watermelon-flavored bubble gum. "But there's still quite a lot that can be done to reduce spending."Our favorite rejoinder from Masch came when he top-spin lobbed a ball back at one lawmaker tried to dismiss his budgeting practices as "Maschematics.""'Maschematics' means revenues have to equal expenditures," he said, proving that even eggheads can be funny in their own Hobbit-y sort of way. "I'll leave it at that."

There Are Plenty of Ways To Lose An Election ...... but do you really want to be remembered as the guy who blew his mayoral bid because of a paperwork error?
Such could be the fate of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, who left his city pension off the financial-interests statement he filed with his nominating petitions earlier this week, the Philadelphia Daily News reports this morning.The filing goof has left Brady vulnerable in case someone decides to challenge his candidacy. But Brady's folks say they're planning to fix the situation before it gets that far."It may well be an error," campaign spokeswoman Kate Philips said. "But it was not a purposeful omission. We plan to file an amendment."There's several examples in recent city history of candidates who torpedoed their chances because of paperwork goofs, the DN reports. Among them, City Council hopeful Vernon Anastasio, who saw his name permanently stricken from the ballot in 2003 after he failed to list his state legislative job on the financial filings.As if the whole thing's not weird enough, we're not sure how to explain the unusually candid closing quote from Philips, who observed at the end of the story that, "If it's an error, it's a human error," she said of the omission, "a stupid error, but a human error nonetheless."Did she just call her boss "dumb?"Yikes.Want Access ...... to the Department of State'sonline lobbyist disclosure filings? You'll have to register and give up such personal information as your name, snail and e-mail addresses and phone number first. We're not sure why the state requires this information. And we're not sure what they do with it once they get it.But we did notice a marked increase in "unique investement opportunities" landing in our inbox once we did. Strangely, they were all from someone calling themselves "PAGOV06."Hmmmm ....This Can't Be Good.Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck is weighing whether to file criminal
charges against Republican state Sen. Bob Regola, who owned a gun used in the suicide death of a 14-year-old boy last year, the Associated Press reports this morning.Despite a ruling that young Louis Farrell took his own life, and a recommendation by county CoronerKenneth Bacha that no charges be filed against Regola for causing the death, the door was lstill eft open for other charges against the southwestern legislator. "Other offenses, such as recklessly endangering another person
and firearms violations do not require proof that other person's
actions caused death," could be filed, Bacha said. And that he was making no recommendations on
those.Peck said Thursday he would need at
least a week to review the coroner's recommendations and decide whether
to file any charges, which he said could include involuntary
manslaughter, reckless endangerment and violation of state firearms law, the AP reported.EdWatch (TM):If it's Phriday, Gov. Ed must be in Philly.Sure enough. At 5 p.m., he's receiving a Humanitarian Leadership Award from MANNA, during a ceremony at the Rittenhouse Hotel. Then, at 6:45 p.m., he's off to the Hyatt at Penn's Landing to receive an award from the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus.In The Blogosphere:Keystone Politics on Hazleton's la migra trial; GrassrootsPA on ending PSAs; Above Average Jane on how to find out more about judicial candidates; Tony Phyrillas on school districts calling for the repeal of Act 1; Perry Christopher has eaten too many Girl Scout cookies; Bernie O'Hare acknowledges his shortcomings, which is, y'know, healthy; Dick Polman on why elected Republicans aren't calling for a pardon for Scooter; Brett Lieberman explains where he's been for the last few days, and then makes up for his absence with a slew of content; PaWatercooler tries to debunk global warming; PSoTDupdates the old blogroll; Suburban Guerrilla on the disappearing middle class and what to do about it; The day's best political cartoons; Hotline is "on the download"; Stu Rothenberg on how Maine's Susan Collins may be vulnerable (but don't underestimate her); Pandagon has the Friday 10; Marty Kaplan on l'affaire Libby, and Rock Town Hall has Lou Reed as he was meant to be heard.

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning:Here's former Husker Du and Sugar frontman Bob Mould with one of our favorite songs of the last 20 years. The tune; "See A Little Light." The record, "Workbook." Be patient while the clip loads. It's worth it.

Friday's Gratuitous Hockey Link:Our beloved Carolina Hurricanes return to the ice tonight after a nearly week-long layover to face the Washington Capitals. The Caps are 12 points in back of the 'Canes in the NHL's Southeastern Division. The Cup-defending 'Canes are vying for the eighth and final play-off spot in the Eastern Conference. They face the newly resurgent NY Rangers on Sunday.